Over the past few years, Australians have been swapping Coronas out of their stubbies for fuller-flavoured limited-run craft beers brought out by a growing string of small, local breweries.

But it’s becoming increasingly difficult for craft brewers to stay competitive in the beer industry, not just because of the influx of local independent labels popping up around the country.

Global beverage companies, noticing the rising popularity of craft beer, have spent the last few years having a “bit of a buying spree, buying up smaller brewers,” says Chris McNamara, executive officer of the Independent Brewers Association.

For American expats Chris Sidwa and Andrew Fineran, co-founders of Marrickville’s Batch Brewing Co, though, the expansion of corporate beer into the craft beer market is an opportunity, rather than a threat, for small businesses.

Running out of an old-panel beater’s shop in Marrickville that Sidwa, Fineran, and their mates fixed up, Batch Brewing has thrived in the face of big-beer buy-ups, growing over the last four years into a craft-brewing business with a $2.75 million turnover. Read more